Odell Beckham Jr. shows Eli Manning how it's done with long touchdown pass
It took Odell Beckham Jr. just one play to show the New York Giants what they’ve been missing. After criticizing the Giants’ conservative play calling, Beckham was involved in the team’s longest pass of the season … just not in the way you would expect.
Beckham didn’t catch the ball. He threw it. With a little over six minutes left in the second quarter of the Giants’ Week 5 game against the Carolina Panthers, Beckham threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Saquon Barkley.
Beckham lined up outside and immediately acted as though he was catching a screen pass. As he caught the ball, Beckham dropped back and lofted a pass all the way across the field to a wide open Barkley. The running back slowed down to track the ball, made the catch and ran it in for a score.
The play couldn’t have come at a better time for Beckham. Prior to the game, Beckham raised eyebrows after criticizing the Giants in an interview with ESPN’s Josina Anderson. Beckham specifically questioned the team’s conservative play calls and its inability to throw balls beyond 20 yards. He also failed to give a glowing review of Eli Manning when asked about the Giants’ quarterback situation.
In one play, Beckham was vindicated. The Giants not only threw a pass beyond 20 yards, but Beckham was the person to throw it. He would later add a 33-yard TD catch of his own and finished with 131 yards receiving on eight catches only to watch New York lose 33-31 on a 63-yard field goal by Graham Gano with one second left.
While we don’t expect him to take Manning’s job any time soon, Beckham should feel pretty good about the play. He may have blasted his team before the game, but at least he was able to back it up.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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